Quilting

[vixalicious]

In the 'Have You Ever' meme, mrsquizzical asked about me piecing a quilt.

Before I was old enough to go to school, my mom worked so I stayed with my grandmother instead of going to preschool. Grandmother lived next door to us, and she was big on not letting TV rot your brain, so as a three year old, I learned to read, write, and generally entertain myself. I particularly liked gluing stuff to other stuff - this was hours of entertainment. Grandmother never seemed to care what I ruined, as long as I was having fun doing it.

I also spent a lot of time with her while she did her errands and hobbies. We went to church, to the bank (they always gave me free candy through the drive-thru window, I remember them fondly. Plus you had to drive through the middle of a building to do it, which was inherently cool), to deliver meals on wheels. And she had a quilting circle. She would give me a pattern piece and tell me how many she wanted, and I would diligently pin and cut and count til I had the right number. Then she showed me how to thread the needles and tie knots, and I would sew pieces together and give them to her, and she would put them in the right place in her squares.

And then once a week, she would set up a big quilting loom in her basement, and all her quilting friends would come over. I helped sometimes, but I was too little for most of it. I remember clearly though, lying on my back under the table and watching all their needles going in and out in tiny delicate stitches as they put everything together. I have one of her quilts, a wedding quilt, that I plan to hang on a wall in my guest room one day soon.

So it's not exactly the same as putting one together on my own, but I figured it was close enough to count, and it gave me the skills to make this, which I did over the weekend:

Comments

[mrsquizzical.livejournal.com]

ok. i actually recognise some of those fabrics. :~D

that's a really beautiful story.

i have never been to a real quilting circle though. it's a dream of mine.

[vixalicious]

Thanks! I would like to really learn how as an adult. I just started making a blanket out of my old college sweatshirts (hi, I like to craft), and I've got some t-shirts I'd really like to make into a quilt, but I don't know how to actually QUILT it. I could get the squares all ready to go though! :)

[purple-hazed.livejournal.com]

oooooooooo pretty!

[vixalicious]

Thanks! I was quite proud of myself for making it! :D

[gabilady.livejournal.com]

This makes me want to put pieces of my Grannie's quilt on a bag. I get so much heat from siblings and cousins for using my quilts. They want me to save them in a chest, I want to enjoy them. I have one quilt that is really old and is slowly coming apart. It would be perfect to save a piece of for a bag.

Thanks for posting.

[vixalicious]

My great aunt always said putting quilts in a bag would ruin them, that they need air.

And I used an iron on kit from Michaels, and then stitched the edges down.

[the-grapevine.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a great memory to have. I doubt very many children today will get to experience something like that.

[vixalicious]

Yeah, my childhood feels like a dying breed... but then, I think that's endemic of our society moving away from an agrarian lifestyle. People don't quilt, can, etc, like they used to. I did find one sewing circle on Meetup, though, I might check it out in the new year.

[justeeyore.livejournal.com]

That's a very pretty bag.

Sounds like a wonderful childhood, lovely memories.

[vixalicious]

Thank you!

It was a pretty alright childhood :) Looking back it seems pretty idyllic, but as I grew older, it just seemed boring.